Physiology

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In mammals and birds the measurement of eye movement during sleep is used to divide sleep into two
broad types:
rapid eye movement (REM) and
non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.

Each type has a distinct set of associated physiological, neurological and psychological features.

Sleep proceeds in cycles of REM and the four stages of NREM, the order normally being:
stages 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 3 > 2 > REM.

In humans, this cycle is on average 90 to 110 minutes,[2] with a greater amount of stages 3 and 4 early
in the night and more REM later in the night. Each phase may have a distinct physiological function.

Drugs such as alcohol and sleeping pills can suppress certain stages of sleep (see Sleep deprivation).
This can result in a sleep that exhibits loss of consciousness but does not fulfill its physiological
functions.

Rechtschaffen and Kales originally outlined the criteria for staging sleep in 1968. The American
Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) updated the staging rules in 2007.

Stage 4 Sleep. EEG highlighted by red box.

REM Sleep. EEG highlighted by red box. Eye movements highlighted by red line.

[edit]
Stages of sleep

Criteria for REM sleep include not only rapid eye movements, but also a rapid, low voltage EEG and,
in mammals at least, low muscle tone. Most memorable dreaming occurs in this stage.

NREM accounts for 75–80% of total sleep time in normal human adults. In NREM sleep, there is
relatively little dreaming. Non-REM encompasses four stages; stages 1 and 2 are considered 'light
sleep', and 3 and 4 'deep sleep' or slow-wave sleep, SWS. They are differentiated solely using EEG,
unlike REM sleep which is characterized by rapid eye movements and relative absence of muscle tone.
There are often limb movements, and parasomnias such as sleepwalking occur in non-REM sleep. A
cyclical alternating pattern may sometimes be observed during a stage.

NREM consists of four stages according to the 2007 AASM standards:

During Stage N1 the brain transitions from alpha waves (common to people who are awake and
having a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz) to theta waves (frequency of 4 to 7 Hz). This stage is sometimes
referred to as somnolence, or "drowsy sleep". Associated with the onset of sleep during N1 may be
sudden twitches and hypnic jerks. Some people may also experience hypnagogic hallucinations during
this stage, which can be more troublesome to the subject. During N1 the subject loses some muscle
tone, and conscious awareness of the external environment.
Stage N2, is characterized by "sleep spindles" (12 to 16 Hz) and "K-complexes." During this stage,
muscular activity as measured by electromyography (EMG) lowers and conscious awareness of the
external environment disappears. This stage occupies 45 to 55% of total sleep.
In Stage N3, the delta waves, also called delta rhythms (0.5 to 4 Hz) make up less than 50% of the
total wave-patterns. This is considered part of deep or slow-wave sleep (SWS) and appears to function
primarily as a transition into stage N4. This is the stage in which night terrors, bed wetting,
sleepwalking and sleep-talking occur.
In Stage N4, delta-waves make up more than 50% of the wave-patterns. Stages N3 and N4 are the
deepest forms of sleep; N4 is effectively a deeper version of N3, in which the deep-sleep
characteristics, such as delta-waves, are more pronounced.[3]

Both REM sleep and NREM sleep stages 3 and 4 are homeostatically driven; that is, if a person or
animal is selectively deprived of one of these, it rebounds once uninhibited sleep again is allowed.
This suggests that both are essential to the functions of the sleep process.

[edit]
Sleep timing

Sleep timing is controlled by the circadian clock, an inner time-keeping, temperature-fluctuating,

enzyme-controlling device, and by homeostasis.

The circadian clock works in tandem with adenosine, a neurotransmitter which inhibits many of the
bodily processes that are associated with wakefulness. Adenosine is created over the course of the day;
high levels of adenosine lead to sleepiness. In diurnal animals, sleepiness occurs as the circadian
element causes the release of the hormone melatonin and a gradual decrease in core body temperature.
The timing is affected by one's chronotype. It is the circadian rhythm which determines the ideal
timing of a correctly structured and restorative sleep episode.[4]

Homeostatic sleep propensity, the need for sleep as a function of the amount of time elapsed since the
last adequate sleep episode, is also important and must be balanced against the circadian element for
satisfactory sleep. Along with corresponding messages from the circadian clock, this tells the body it
needs to sleep.[5]

Sleep offset, awakening, is primarily determined by circadian rhythm. A normal person who regularly
awakens at an early hour, will generally not be able to sleep in many hours later, even if moderately
sleep deprived. People with some circadian rhythm sleep disorders are an exception.

[edit]
Optimal amount in humans

[edit]
Adults
The optimal amount of sleep is not a meaningful concept unless the timing of that sleep is seen in
relation to an individual's circadian rhythms. A person's major sleep episode is relatively inefficient
and inadequate when it occurs at the "wrong" time of day. The timing is correct when the following
two circadian markers occur after the middle of the sleep episode but before awakening:[6]
maximum concentration of the hormone melatonin, and
minimum core body temperature.

The National Sleep Foundation in the United States maintains that eight to nine hours of sleep for
adult humans is optimal and that sufficient sleep benefits alertness, memory and problem solving, and
overall health, as well as reducing the risk of accidents.[7] A widely publicized 2003 study[8]
performed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine demonstrated that cognitive
performance declines with fewer than eight hours of sleep.

A University of California, San Diego psychiatry study of more than one million adults found that
people who live the longest self-report sleeping for six to seven hours each night.[9] However, this
study cannot be used to determine optimal sleep habits, only correlation — and empirically observed
correlation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality. A need for nine or ten hours sleep a
day may or may not have the same cause as the shortened life span; long sleeping itself has not been
shown to be a cause of early death.

Researchers from the University of Warwick, and University College London have found that lack of
sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but that too much sleep can
also double the risk of death.[10][11] Professor Francesco Cappuccio said: “Short sleep has been
shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes sometimes leading to
mortality but in contrast to the short sleep-mortality association it appears that no potential
mechanisms by which long sleep could be associated with increased mortality have yet been
investigated. Some candidate causes for this include depression, low socioeconomic status and cancer-
related fatigue.” “In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around 7
hours per night is optimal for health and a sustained reduction may predispose to ill-health.”

[edit]
Hours by age

A child sleeping

A Koli Wada woman sleeping in Nirona village

Children need a greater amount of sleep per day than adults to develop and function properly: up to 18
hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as a child ages.[7][12] A newborn baby spends almost
half of its time asleep in REM-sleep. By the age of five or so, only a bit over two hours are spent in
REM.[13]

Age Average amount of sleep per day

Newborn up to 18 hours
1-12 months 14–18 hours
1-3 years 12-15 hours
3-5 years 11-13 hours
5-12 years 9-11 hours
Adolescents 8-9 hours
Adults, including elderly 7-8(+) hours
Pregnant women 8(+) hours

[edit]
Sleep debt

Main article: Sleep debt

Sleep debt is the effect of not getting enough rest and sleep; a large debt causes mental and physical
fatigue. Scientists do not agree on how much sleep debt it is possible to accumulate, nor on whether
the prevalence of sleep debt among adults has changed appreciably in the industrialized world in
recent decades. It is likely, however, that children are sleeping less than they used to in western
societies.[14]

[edit]
Functions

The multiple theories proposed to explain the function of sleep are reflective of the as yet incomplete
understanding of the subject.

It is likely that sleep evolved to fulfill some primeval function, but has taken over multiple functions
over time as organisms have evolved. An analogy would be that of the larynx, which performs
multiple functions such as controlling the passage of food and air, phonation for communicating and
social purposes etc. All of these are its functions but just one of them likely represents the original
function. Some of the many proposed functions of sleep are as follows:

[edit]
Restoration

Wound healing has been shown to be affected by sleep. A study conducted by Gumustekin et al.[15] in
2004 shows sleep deprivation hindering the healing of burns on rats.

It’s also been shown that sleep deprivation affects the immune system and metabolism. In a study by
Zager et al in 2007,[16] rats were deprived of sleep for 24 hours. When compared with a control
group, the sleep-deprived rats' blood tests indicated a 20% decrease in white blood cell count, a
significant change in the immune system.

A study by Bonnet and Arand[17] in 2003 indicates that sleep affects metabolism. Comparing normal
human sleepers and sleepers with a form of insomnia called sleep state misperception, the researchers
found significantly greater metabolism values for the normal sleepers.
It has yet to be clearly proven that sleep duration affects somatic growth. One study by Jenni et al[18]
in 2007 recorded growth, height and weight, as correlated to parent-reported time-in-bed in 305
children over a period of nine years (age 1-10). It was found that "the variation of sleep duration
among children does not seem to have an effect on growth". It has been shown that sleep, more
specifically slow-wave sleep (SWS), does affect growth hormone levels in adult men. During eight
hours sleep, Van Cauter, Leproult, and Plat[19] found that the men with a high percentage of SWS
(average 24%) also had high growth hormone secretion, while subjects with a low percentage of SWS
(average 9%) had low growth hormone secretion.

There are multiple arguments supporting the restorative function of sleep. We feel rested after
sleeping, and it is natural to assume that this is a basic purpose of sleep. Overall metabolic rate goes
down during sleep and certain anabolic hormones such as growth hormones as mentioned above are
secreted preferentially during sleep. Sleep among species is, in general, inversely related to the animal
size and basal metabolic rate. Rats with a very high basal metabolic rate sleep for up to 14 hours a day
whereas elephants and giraffes with lower BMRs sleep only 3-4 hours per day.

Energy conservation could as well have been accomplished by resting quiescent without shutting off
the organism from the environment, potentially a dangerous situation. A sedentary non-sleeping
animal is more likely to survive predators, while still preserving energy. Sleep therefore does
something else other than conserving energy. Most interestingly, hibernating animals, when they wake
up from hibernation go into rebound sleep because of lack of sleep during the hibernation period. They
are definitely well rested and are conserving energy during hibernation, but need sleep for something
else.[20] One study that was conducted kept rats awake indefinitely. They started dying after 5 days.

[edit]
Anabolic/catabolic

Non-REM sleep may be an anabolic state marked by physiological processes of growth and
rejuvenation of the organism's immune, nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems (but see above).
Wakefulness may perhaps be viewed as a cyclical, temporary, hyperactive catabolic state during which
the organism acquires nourishment and procreates.

[edit]
Ontogenesis

According to the ontogenetic hypothesis of REM sleep, the activity occurring during neonatal REM
sleep (or active sleep) seems to be particularly important to the developing organism (Marks et al.,
1995). Studies investigating the effects of deprivation of active sleep have shown that deprivation
early in life can result in behavioral problems, permanent sleep disruption, decreased brain mass
(Mirmiran et al. 1983), and an abnormal amount of neuronal cell death (Morrissey, Duntley & Anch,
2004).

REM sleep appears to be important for development of the brain. REM sleep occupies majority of
time of sleep of infants, which spend most of their time sleeping. Among different species, the more
immature the baby is born, the more time it spends in REM sleep. Proponents also suggest that REM-
induced muscle inhibition in the presence of brain activation exists to allow for brain development by
activating the synapses yet without any motor consequences which may get the infant in trouble.
Additionally, REM deprivation results in developmental abnormalities later in life.

However, this does not explain why older adults still need REM sleep, and why the fraction of time
spent does not change significantly as one ages. Aquatic mammal infants do not have REM sleep in
infancy. REM sleep in those animals increases as they age. Obviously, REM sleep is not needed for
development in these animals.

[edit]
Memory processing

This article or section contains too much jargon and may need simplification or further
explanation.Please discuss this issue on the talk page, and/or remove or explain jargon terms used in
the article. Editing help is available.This article has been tagged since January 2008.

Scientists have shown numerous ways in which sleep is related to memory. In a study conducted by
Turner, Drummond, Salamat, and Brown[21] working memory was shown to be affected by sleep
deprivation. Working memory is important because it keeps information active for further processing
and supports higher-level cognitive functions such as decision making, reasoning, and episodic
memory. Turner et al. allowed 18 women and 22 men to sleep only 26 minutes per night over a 4-day
period. Subjects were given initial cognitive tests while well rested and then tested again twice a day
during the 4 days of sleep deprivation. On the final test the average working memory span of the sleep
deprived group had dropped by 38% in comparison to the control group. This demonstrates that there
is clearly a connection between sleep and memory.

Memory also seems to be affected differently by certain stages of sleep such as REM and slow-wave
sleep (SWS). In one study cited in Born, Rasch, and Gais[22] multiple groups of human subjects were
used: wake control groups and sleep test groups. Sleep and wake groups were taught a task and then
tested on it both on early and late nights, with the order of nights balanced across participants. When
the subject’s brains were scanned during sleep, hypnograms revealed that SWS was the dominant
sleep stage during the early night representing around 23% on average for sleep stage activity. The
early night test group performed 16% better on the declarative memory test than the control group.
During late night sleep, REM became the most active sleep stage at about 24%, and the late night test
group performed 25% better on the procedural memory test than the control group. This indicates that
procedural memory benefits from late REM-rich sleep where as declarative memory benefits from
early SWS-rich sleep.

Another study conducted by Datta[23] indirectly supports these results. The subjects chosen were 22
male rats. A box was constructed where a single rat could move freely from one end to the other. The
bottom of the box was made of a steel grate. A light would shine in the box accompanied by a sound.
After a 5 second delay an electrical shock would be applied. Once the shock commenced the rat could
move to the other end of the box, ending the shock immediately. The rat could also use the 5 second
delay to move to the other end of the box and avoid the shock entirely. The length of the shock never
exceeded 5 seconds. This was repeated 30 times for half the rats. The other half, the control group,
was placed in the same trial but the rats were shocked regardless of their reaction. After each of the
training sessions the rat would be placed in a recording cage for 6 hours of polygraphic recordings.
This process was repeated for 3 consecutive days. This study found that during the post-trial sleep
recording session rats spent 25.47% more time in REM sleep after learning trials than after control
trials. These trials support the results of the Born et al. study, indicating an obvious correlation
between REM sleep and procedural knowledge.

Another interesting observation of the Datta study is that the learning group spent 180% more time in
SWS than did the control group during the post-trial sleep-recording session. This phenomenon is
supported by a study performed by Kudrimonti, Barnes, and McNaughton.[24] This study shows that
after spatial exploration activity, patterns of hippocampal place cells are reactivated during SWS
following the experiment. In a study by Kudrimonti et al seven rats were run through a linear track
using rewards on either end. The rats would then be placed in the track for 30 minutes to allow them to
adjust (PRE), then they ran the track with reward based training for 30 minutes (RUN), and then they
were allowed to rest for 30 minutes. During each of these three periods EEG data was collected for
information on the rats’ sleep stages. Kudrimonti et al computed the mean firing rates of hippocampal
place cells during pre-behavior SWS (PRE) and three 10 min intervals in post-behavior SWS (POST)
by averaging across 22 track-running sessions from seven rats. The results showed that 10 min after
the trial RUN session there was a 12% increase in the mean firing rate of hippocampal place cells from
the PRE level, however after 20 minutes the mean firing rate returned rapidly toward the PRE level.
The elevated firing of hippocampal place cells during SWS after spatial exploration could explain why
there were elevated levels of SWS sleep in Datta’s study as it also dealt with a form of spatial
exploration.

The different studies all suggest that there is a correlation between sleep and the many complex
functions of memory.

[edit]
Preservation

The "Preservation and Protection" theory holds that sleep serves an adaptive function. It protects the
person during that portion of the 24-hour day in which being awake, and hence roaming around, would
place the individual at greatest risk. Organisms do not require 24 hours to feed themselves and meet
other necessities. From this perspective of adaptation, organisms are safer by staying out of harm's
way where potentially they could be prey to other, stronger organisms. They sleep at times that
maximize their safety, given their physical capacities and their habitats. (Allison & Cicchetti, 1976;
Webb, 1982).

However, this theory fails to explain why the brain disengages from the external environment during
normal sleep. Another argument against the theory is that sleep is not simply a passive consequence of
removing the animal from the environment, but is a "drive": animals alter their behaviors in order to
obtain sleep. Therefore, circadian regulation is more than sufficient to explain periods of activity and
quiescence that are adaptive to an organism, but the more peculiar specializations of sleep probably
serve different and unknown functions.

Moreover, the preservation theory does not explain why carnivores like lions, which are on top of the
food chain, sleep the most. By the preservation logic, these top carnivores should not need any sleep at
all. Preservation does not explain why aquatic mammals sleep while moving. Lethargy during these
vulnerable hours would do the same, and will be more advantageous because the animal will be
quiescent but still be able to respond to environmental challenges like predators etc. Sleep rebound
that occurs after a sleepless night will be maladaptive, but still occurs for a reason. For example, a
zebra falling asleep the day after it spent the sleeping time running from a lion is more and not less
vulnerable to predation.

[edit]
Dreaming
Main article: Dream

Dreaming is the perception of sensory images during sleep, in a sequence which the sleeper/dreamer
usually perceives more as an apparent participant than an observer. Dreaming is stimulated by the
pons and mostly occurs during the REM phase of sleep.

People have proposed many hypotheses about the functions of dreaming. Sigmund Freud postulated
that dreams are the symbolic expression of frustrated desires that had been relegated to the
subconscious, and he used dream interpretation in the form of psychoanalysis to uncover these desires.
Scientists have become skeptical about the Freudian interpretation, and place more emphasis on
dreaming as a requirement for organization and consolidation of recent memory and experience. See
Freud:The Interpretation of Dreams

Rosalind Cartwright stated that "One Function of dreams may be to restore our sense of
competence...it is also probable that in many times of stress, dreams have more work to do in resolving
our problems and are thus more salient and memorable."[cite this quote] She also stated that dreams
are more a state of problem solving, and that has a better and fully creative point of view, because
there is no logic that restrains it since the unconscious doesnt have a logic, or a precesence of time in
space.

J. Allan Hobson's and Robert McCarley's activation synthesis theory proposes that dreams are caused
by the random firing of neurons in the cerebral cortex during the REM period. According to the
theory, the forebrain then creates a story in an attempt to reconcile and make sense of the nonsensical
sensory information presented to it, hence the odd nature of many dreams.[25]

A wet dream is the ejaculation of semen during sleep. This is most often experienced by pubescent
boys during REM sleep, but may occur at any time after puberty.

[edit]
Effect of food and drink on sleep

[edit]
Drowsiness
Tryptophan

The amino acid tryptophan is a building block of the protein found in foods. It contributes to
sleepiness. Carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain, which is why carbohydrate-
heavy meals containing tryptophan tend to cause drowsiness.[1]
Melatonin

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that regulates sleepiness. It is made in the brain where
tryptophan is converted into serotonin and then into melatonin, which is released at night by the pineal
gland to induce and maintain sleep. Melatonin supplementation may be used as a sleep aid.[2]
The "Post-Lunch Dip"

Many people have a temporary drop in alertness in early afternoon, commonly known as the post-
lunch dip. While a large meal, rich in carbohydrates, can make a person feel sleepy, the post-lunch dip
is mostly an effect of the biological clock. People naturally feel most sleepy at two different times of
the day: about 2:00 AM and 2:00 PM.[3]
Alcohol

Alcoholic beverages aid relaxation and commonly are used as a sleep aid. Alcohol tends, however, to
disrupt sleep throughout the night and can prevent the deeper stages of sleep from occurring.[4]

[edit]
Stimulation
Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that works by slowing the action of the hormones in the brain that make us feel
sleepy. A strong dose of caffeine can stimulate the mind for a short time, but can cause a rapid
reduction in alertness as it wears off. [5]
Amphetamines

Amphetamines are often used to treat narcolepsy, the most common effects are decreased appetite,
increased stamina, and physical energy.
Energy Drinks

The stimulating effects of energy drinks comes from natural stimulants such as caffeine, sugars, and
essential amino acids, and eventually will create a rapid reduction in alertness similar to that of
caffeine. [6]

[edit]
Causes of difficulty sleeping

There are a great many possible reasons for sleeping poorly. Following sleep hygienic principles may
solve problems of physical or emotional discomfort.[26] When pain, illness, drugs or stress are the
culprit, the cause must be treated. Sleep disorders, including the sleep apneas, narcolepsy, primary
insomnia, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), restless leg syndrome (RLS) and the circadian
rhythm sleep disorders, are treatable.

Elderly people may to some degree lose the ability to consolidate sleep. They need the same amount
per day as they've always needed, but may need to take some of their sleep as daytime naps.
[edit]
Anthropology of sleep

Recent research suggests that sleep patterns vary significantly across human cultures.[27][28] The
most striking differences are between societies that have plentiful artificial light and ones that do not.
Cultures without artificial light have more broken-up sleep patterns. This is called polyphasic sleep or
segmented sleep and has led to expressions such as "first sleep," "watch," and "second sleep" which
appear in literature from all over the world.

Some cultures have fragmented sleep patterns in which people sleep at all times of the day, and for
shorter periods at night. For example, many Mediterranean and Latin American cultures have a siesta,
in which people sleep for a period in the afternoon. In many nomadic or hunter-gatherer societies
people sleep off and on throughout the day or night depending on what is happening.[citation needed]

Some sleep deprivation-oriented sleep patterns have been experimented with recently, such as that of
the Uberman's sleep schedule, which involve sleeping in regular patterns of 20 minute sleep and 4
hours awake, leading to greatly increased wake time. Such patterns purportedly lead to the body's
ability to jump instantly into the most necessary sleep stages.

Since plentiful artificial light became available in some cultures in the mid-19th century, sleep patterns
have changed significantly in these cultures. These people sleep in a concentrated burst at night, and
sleep later in the morning.[citation needed]

[edit]
Sleep in non-humans

Sleeping Japanese Macaques.

Main article: Sleep (non-human)

Horses and other herbivorous ungulates can sleep while standing, but must necessarily lie down for
REM sleep (which causes muscular atony) for short periods - giraffes, for example, only need to lie
down for REM sleep for a few minutes at a time. Bats sleep while hanging upside down. Some aquatic
mammals and some birds can sleep with one half of the brain, while the other half is awake, so called
unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.[29] Birds and mammals have cycles of non-REM and REM sleep as
described above for humans, though birds’ cycles are much shorter and they do not lose muscle tone,
“go limp”, to the same extent that most mammals do.

Sleep appears to be common to the animal kingdom, but it becomes difficult to define in lower order
animals. It has, however, behavioral characteristics such as minimal movement, a posture typical for
the species and reduced responsiveness to external stimulation. It is quickly reversible, as opposed to
hibernation or coma, and sleep deprivation is followed by longer and/or deeper sleep.[30]

[edit]
Longest period without sleep
Depending on how sleep is defined, there are several people who can claim the record for having gone
the longest without sleep:
Thai Ngoc, born 1942, claims to have been awake for 33 years or 11,700 nights, according to
Vietnamese news organization Thanh Nien. It was said that Ngoc acquired the ability to go without
sleep after a bout of fever in 1973,[31] but other reports indicate he stopped sleeping in 1976 with no
known trigger.[32] At the time of the Thanh Nien report, Ngoc suffered from no apparent ill effect
(other than a minor decline in liver function), was mentally sound and could carry 100 kg of pig feed
down a 4 km road,[31] but another report indicates that he was healthy before the sleepless episode but
that now he was not feeling well because of the lack of sleep.[32]
Randy Gardner holds the Guinness World Record for intentionally having gone the longest without
sleep. In 1965, Gardner, then 18, stayed awake for 264 hours (about 11 days) for a high school science
project.[33] He experienced significant deficits in concentration, motivation, perception and other
higher mental processes during his sleep deprivation. However, he recovered normal cognitive
functions after a few nights' sleep.
On May 25, 2007 the BBC reported that Tony Wright beat the Guinness World Record by staying
awake for 11 days and nights.[34] The Guinness Book of Records has, however, withdrawn its
backing of a sleep deprivation class because of the associated health risks.

[edit]
See also

[edit]
Common sleeping positions, practices, and rituals
Co-sleeping
Hypnosis
Meditation
Neutral spine
Sleep hygiene
Yoga Nidra

[edit]
Other
Morvan's syndrome
Alarm clock
Dream world (plot device)
Sudden infant death syndromeStages of Sleep

Usually sleepers pass through five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These
stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle
takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes. The first sleep cycles each night have relatively short REM
sleeps and long periods of deep sleep but later in the night, REM periods lengthen and deep sleep time
decreases.

Stage 1 is light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. In this stage, the
eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows. During this stage, many people experience sudden
muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling.

In stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid
brain waves. When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are
interspersed with smaller, faster waves. In stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively.
Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In
deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience
bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors.

In the REM period, breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb
muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Brain waves during this stage increase to levels experienced when
a person is awake. Also, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, males develop erections and the
body loses some of the ability to regulate its temperature. This is the time when most dreams occur,
and, if awoken during REM sleep, a person can remember the dreams. Most people experience three to
five intervals of REM sleep each night.
Infants spend almost 50% of their time in REM sleep. Adults spend nearly half of sleep time in stage
2, about 20% in REM and the other 30% is divided between the other three stages. Older adults spend
progressively less time in REM sleep.

As sleep research is still a relatively young field, scientists did not discover REM sleep until 1953
when new machines were developed to monitor brain activity. Before this discovery it was believed
that most brain activity ceased during sleep. Since then, scientists have also disproved the idea that
deprivation of REM sleep can lead to insanity and have found that lack of REM sleep can alleviate
clinical depression although they do not know why. Recent theories link REM sleep to learning and
memory.
Stage Frequency (Hz) Amplitude (micro Volts) Waveform type
awake 15-50 <50
pre-sleep 8-12 50 alpha rhthym
1 4-8 50-100 theta
2 4-15 50-150 splindle waves
3 2-4 100-150 spindle waves and slow waves
4 0.5-2 100-200 slow waves and delta waves
REM 15-30 <50

The waveform during REM has low amplitudes and high frequencies., just like the waking state. Early
researchers actually called it "paradoxial sleep".

The functions of many organ systems are linked to the sleep cycle.

Circadian Cycles and Sleep

Dissecting the mechanism of our internal clock

Read about the chemical theory of sleep.

Polyphasic sleep

Microsleep